In most sports played within a defined area involving moving or projected objects such as golf, baseball, ice hockey, football, soccer, javelin, shot-put and the like, accurate knowledge of the travel distance and flight path attributes of the moving sports objects used in the game can greatly enhance the enjoyment and competitiveness of the sport for both the participant and the observer. It may frequently be of great interest to know with a high degree of accuracy the flight path attributes of a moving sports object, such as the loft, flight duration (hang time), speed, velocity, elevation and the like.
In the game of baseball, for example, determination of the exact travel distance of a baseball struck by a contestant in a homerun derby is critical in determining a winner. In such a competition, observers and judges need to know the exact distance that each baseball played by a contestant has traveled in order to declare a winner. Since most of the baseballs invariably land in unmarked or inaccessible areas within or outside of the playing stadium, it is usually not possible to ascertain an actual distance measurement for these struck balls. An accepted standard for determining the travel distance is therefore necessarily based on guessing, estimating or measuring the distance from a previously known starting point such as home plate to a previously known distance marker at the vicinity of the final ball destination such as the outfield wall, plus or minus the guessed, estimated or measured additional distance to or from the actual final ball destination. This is potentially inefficient, inaccurate, and time consuming.
Similarly, it is extremely useful for a golfer using a driving range or a practice facility to know how far a golf ball has traveled, as well as to know the associated flight path (e.g., slice, shank, draw) in order to evaluate his/her own progress and fully benefit from the driving range experience. Currently, for each ball hit by a golfer into the driving or practice area, the distance is guessed by estimating how far from the nearest range marker the struck ball has come to rest. The golf range markers are generally placed in the field starting at 50 yards from the tee, and progress in 25 or 50 yard increments, usually to a maximum distance of 350 yards or the like. The markers are typically fixed stakes in the ground, each with a sign large enough to be seen from the multi-user teeing area that indicates the distance from the golfer by using a color selection or a simple 2 or 3 digit number.
At a typical facility, individual players visually track the ball during the flight path and estimate the final destination and travel distance, subject to the ability of the player to follow the ball flight path. The task is often complicated when a plurality of players and associated plurality of balls are used at the driving range simultaneously, resulting in frequent occasions when multiple balls are in flight. The inability to track the initial seconds of ball flight or confusing one ball with another, either in flight or on the ground, can result in not being able to visually follow the ball or accurately estimate the traveled distance. Change in natural lighting due to weather conditions and time of play produces variability in visibility and further complicates the task of estimating the traveled distance of a golf ball. Considering the lack of natural light during periods of cloudiness, darkness, or inclement weather during the day, as well as the limitations of artificial lighting at night, the problem of determining how far the ball has been hit becomes even more apparent.
Another common difficulty is encountered when a plurality of balls have already been hit and are scattered around the field of play, thereby making it difficult to keep track of one's ball. Even though range attendants periodically sweep the ball landing area with a cart or other device that scoops up previously hit balls for reuse, there are frequently many hundreds or even thousands of balls scattered around the range grounds at virtually all times that the facility is in use. Such condition diminishes the observer's ability to determine the true traveled distance of the golf ball.
Even with the aforementioned complicating factors aside, any attempt to accurately determine the travel distance depends largely on the vigilance of the player and on the accuracy of the small number of distance markers or yardage markers. In a typical driving range or practice facility, several yardage markers are placed within the range area to indicate the distance from the golfer to the yardage marker. Typically, the distances that are indicated from the yardage marker to the tee stall are not accurate. This is because the distances are not typically measured from each tee stall. Even if the distance is measured accurately from one particular tee stall, the distance becomes increasingly less accurate for each adjoining tee stall unless a new distance is measured. The distance variance can be significant in some tee stall layouts.
Additionally, in order for players to gain more benefit from the golf range experience, the ability to study each golf swing and compare different swings is very important. Currently, a coach or a professional teacher provides this role by observing or videotaping the player in action, and providing feedback on various elements of the player's swing mechanics and the like. Even though many golfers gain improvements from such teaching lessons, such approach is subjective and can be greatly enhanced with the added component of knowing precisely the various flight attributes of repeated practice strokes. Thus, there is a need for improving the process by which a person can understand the mechanics of his golf swing. This can be accomplished by allowing users to store accurately produced distance and golf ball flight attributes, to be viewed during the teaching lesson or at a later time, for the purpose of comparing the positive or negative aspects of different strokes, and the like.
In yet another example, it may be helpful, educational, entertaining and the like for a golfer playing a round of golf on a golf course to be able to know the true travel distance for each stroke played during the game, and to know accurately how each ball was hit in order to measure and evaluate his progress. U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,199 B2 discloses a GPS receiver that is deployed on a golf cart in order to determine the distance between the golf cart and other landmarks on the golf course such as a fairway, a sand trap, a water hazard, the putting green, etc. While such approach is useful in determining the distance to the various points of interest on the course, it is limited in scope by the fact that the GPS receiver is associated with the golf cart and not the golf ball. As such, it does not provide accurate information about the actual distance from the ball itself to the next target or other points of interest on the course. Nor does it provide any information about the ball flight attributes of the golf ball itself.
Methods for determining the distance traveled and flight attributes of a moving sports object are inaccurate, inefficient, and are subject to guesswork. We have now discovered a way to address the limitations of the preexisting methods that will allow users and players at various sports facilities, as well as observers, scorekeepers, spectators, sportscasters, teachers and the like, to know how far and how accurately a ball or other moving sports object has traveled.
There is a need to provide moving sports object positional and flight path information accurately. There is a need to determine the exact positional information of the moving sports object at the starting point and the final destination and at several intermediate points. There also is a need to obtain, display, store, and otherwise make available this positional information in a way that improves upon estimation, guessing and the like.